Product 81 Creative Lab Basel Series presents artist talk with Yuri Tuma

The Mobile Art Movement: The Death of Photography or the Evolution of an Art Form?

On December 5, 2013, as part of the Basel Series, a week-long program of dialogue and artist talks at the Product 81 Creative Lab, the Brazilian born South Florida photographer, Yuri Tuma, led an informative session on “The Mobile Art Movement” and its implications, possibilities as well as its points of controversy for the future of digital and photographic art.   One of the questions driving the discussion included, whether or not images created and shared through the cell phone represent the death of photography:  Does it represent a lesser art form or is it indicative of a fortuitous evolution of the medium?  According to Yuri, Instagram, the major driving force behind mobile art, has become, in the hands of artists, a platform for promoting their visions and careers as well as the creation of instant global communities of like-minded individuals. The oftentimes promotional nature of images points to a strategic element that takes the “instant” out of Instagram and brings up a whole series of human behavioral phenomena such as “posting anxiety.”  Nevertheless, the concern over how many people will “like” a particular photo may also influence in what ways it may be altered or what an artist may choose to do “fine artly” in the future based on responses.  With mobile art, the social aspect of photography becomes the grounds around which the medium is evolving.  Importance is being given not so much to technique but what an image can bring up– photography is now talking.  The once highly individualistic art form is now the center around which a variety of communities, subgroups and subgenres are being developed.  There is no doubt that with the mobile art movement, we are witnessing an evolution in which social media platforms serve as a communicative bridge that is not only transforming the field of photography but is also breaking through the oftentimes isolating experience of the gallery for both photographers and spectators. 

by Catalina Ramírez

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